Weather chaos in Spa? World Cup fight goes into the next round

Max Verstappen's verdict on the legendary Formula 1 circuit at Spa-Francorchamps is clear. “I love this route,” wrote the World Cup challenger on Instagram on Friday evening. Thousands of Dutch fans will support the Red Bull driver this weekend and finally want to see him win in Belgium. The 23-year-old's track record on the Ardennes roller coaster has been poor so far without any racing success or pole position. There are only two third places in his statistics.

Will that change in the first race after the summer break? Verstappen goes into qualifying this Saturday as the favorite after his best training time. However, the World Cup runner-up gave his mechanics extra work. Verstappen crashed into the barrier in the second free practice session and wrecked his company car after slipping on the track.

Up to this point he had been “very happy” with how things went at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix. He sat down thinly on Friday ahead of vice world champion Valtteri Bottas and defending champion Lewis Hamilton in the two Silver Arrows. Rain could mix up the field “All in all, it was a decent day, but I wasn’t completely happy with the car yet,” said the Briton Hamilton and announced that there would be some more work to do on Friday evening. The seven-time world champion, who has already won four times in Spa, also knows: “The weather will play an important role here.” Lewis Hamilton has proven his skills in the rain many times. © ANSA / MARC GOODWIN / POOL

Rain is expected at the weekend, which should create additional excitement on the course, which is more than seven kilometers long. The terrain in the Belgian forests is known for the fact that it can occasionally rain in some parts and remain completely dry in other areas. “It’s hard to say what the track will feel like when it’s wet,” said Verstappen: “It will definitely be interesting.” Silverstone and Hungary in mind For Verstappen and Red Bull in particular, the aim in Belgium is to forget the performances of the last two race weekends. The Dutchman was only able to take five points from Great Britain and Hungary, and the horror crash with competitor Lewis Hamilton in Silverstone is likely to still cause discontent in the Austrian racing team. That in Hungary Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas an accident with both Red Bull cars caused, further heated up the mood in the paddock. How the duel for the world title develops will become clear in the first race after the summer break.

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Weather chaos in Spa? World Cup fight goes into the next round

Formula 1 returns from the summer break. In the classic at Spa, the battle between World Championship leader Lewis Hamilton (195 points) and Max Verstappen (187 points) continues. However, the risk of rain could once again shake up the cards for the race weekend in Belgium.

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